Introduction: Wooden Freestanding Bag Stand
This project started because my study was looking messy where I had hand bags and tote bags piled up in one spot. As space is very valuable in an apartment, a bag stand was another way we could optimise and organise our space. I considered different designs that were already on the market, including streamlined ones are similar to what I have built, open bookcase styles, metal and plastic stands. There are also interesting wooden coat stands to draw inspiration from.
This design is fine for handbags, hats and a few tote bags, and takes up minimum floor space. I also prefer the warm, homely feel of a quality wooden stand. I'm happy overall with this bag stand; the streamlined look, beautiful wood grain, smooth feel, and the space looks clearer.
Aspects of this build that you might want to consider improviing are stability; it has a slight wobble, possibly because the bottom is not perfectly straight and/or because it is top heavy. Ways of improving this could include designing a sturdier base, allowing for heavier bags to be placed onto the stand without risk of tipping it over. I also placed felt floor protectors under the base which has helped. You may also want to consider revising the design to allow for greater storage.
Supplies
Woodworking Equipment:
- Woodworking Bench
- Table Saw
- Surface Planer (Jointer)
- Planer Thicknesser
- Band Saw
- Drill Press
- Belt Sander
Safety Equipment:
- Eye protection (safety glasses)
- Hearing protection (ear muffs)
- Safety footwear (steel cap boots)
- Dust mask
- Fitted, high strength disposable gloves
Tools:
- Hand Held Router
- Flush Trim Bit
- Round Over Bits
- Biscuit Joiner
- Biscuits
- Drill Press
- Hand Held Drill;
- Drill Bits
- Coutersink Drill Bit
- Electric Orbital Sander
- Woodworking Clamps - small, med and large
- Putty Knife
- Computer
- Calculator
- Ruler
- Pencil and eraser
- Paper
Supplies:
- Wood;
- European White Ash wood (or similar);
- Rough
- approx. 1 x 1720mm x 65mm x 65mm (stem)
- approx. 1 x 330mm x 330mm x 40mm (base) - you can glue 2 pieces together if required
- approx 320mm x 160mm x 40mm (hangers)
- Woodworking glue - quality, fast-drying, for interior use (small amount)
- Woodfiller (in a colour that matches the wood, e.g. 'natural')
- Cardboard - scrap - equivalent of 2 boxes
- Hardwax oil - high quality, non toxic, colourless - small tin
- 3 x Sanding sheets (electric orbital sander) - various grits
- 4 x Sanding sheets - (hand-sanding) - various grits
- 1 x 400 grit Wet & Sandpaper - 1 sheet or small roll.
- 1 x Sanding block (this can be made by cutting a bit of spare wood into a rectangular block)
- 1 x Sandpaper piece- wet and dry - 400 grit
- 1 x Sanding Block
- 1 x large Screw (to attach base)
- 4 x 50mm round floor protector pads
- Masking Tape (small amount)
- Rags (clean)
- Small waterproof container
Step 1: Select, Smooth & Flatten Wood
Source good quality wood from a timber supplier - I used European White Ash. Start with a rough wooden boards to be able to make 1 x 1720mm x 65mm x 65mm (stem), 1 x 330mm x 330mm x 40mm (base) and approx 320mm x 160mm x 40mm (hangers). For the base, I glued 2 pieces of wood togther (with biscuit joints).
Select wood boards based on their quality, including colour, wood grain, straightness, and consistency (lack of chips/damage).
Put wood boards through the planer and thicknesser;
- Smooth one flat surface into each piece of wood with a Surface Planer (Jointer).
- Reduce the thickness of the rough wood and smooth wood using a Thickness Planer. Use the flat surface that you created in each piece as a reference surface while passing it through the thicknesser. The final thickness of each piece of wood should be;
- stem: 50mm
- base: 35mm
- hangers: 30mm
Step 2: Base - Cut, Glue, Sand
- Using the table saw, cut 2 pieces of wood - 310mm x155mm x 35mm.
- Join the two pieces together with 2 biscuit joints and wood glue.
- Clamp and leave overnight to dry.
- Mark out a circle on the wood with a 300mm diameter.
- Cut out the circular shape using a bandsaw - leaving a bit extra that will be neatly cleaned off with a router;
- Smooth off the sides with a hand-held router with a flush trim bit.
- Create the rounded edge on the top outer circle using a router and round over cutter.
- Create the smaller rounded edge using the appropriate router bit.
- Note: avoid burn marks by moving reasonably fast on final pass.
- Sand the base with an electric sander, then do the fine detail by hand - including the curves on the top of the base.
Step 3: Preparation: Attaching Hangers to Stem
- Mark out the position of the hangers on the stem;
- After making a cardboard model, and seeing what was on the market, it made more sense to have 2 'clusters' of hangers, leaving adequate room for bags to hang.
- The upmost hanger is 100mm from the top, then the 3 hangers below are on each of the other sides, 30mm lower than the last.
- The 2nd cluster of 4 hangers starts 900mm from the bottom of the stem, and follows the same pattern.
- Mark out on the stem and 8 hangers where the biscuit joints will go.
- Using the biscuit joiner, make holes in the stem and 8 hangers.
- Do a dry run - attaching the hangers to the stem with the biscuit joints (without glue).
Step 4: Round Edges - Stem and Hangers
- Use a router to round off the edges of the stem and hangers (following appropriate safety precautions - especially when handling the hangers).
- Use a belt sander to round off the ends of the hangers.
Step 5: Attach Hangers
- Attach the 8 hangers to the stem using wood glue. For each hanger;
- Add only a small amount of glue to the hole, add in biscuit, add a small amount onto the side of the hanger.
- Attach biscuit into hole.
- Wipe away any excess glue.
- Use masking tape if needed to make sure the hanger drys fully attached.
- Leave overnight to dry (as per glue instructions).
Step 6: Attach Base
Connect the base to the stem of the stand;
- Measure and mark out the centre with a pencil.
- Use a drill press to drill a hole through the centre of the base.
- Turn the stem upside down, measure and mark the centre.
- Use a handheld drill to drill a smaller hole into the centre of the base of the stem.
- Drill in a large screw into the base and stem of the bag stand.
Step 7: Add Filler to Gaps (if Required)
If needed, use filler in gaps between the hangers and the stem. I used Timbermate Woodfiller.
- Use gloves, the woodfiller container recommended a using putty knife, I found that it was easier to manipulate using my index finger.
- Use good quality (painters) masking tape - to protect the wood surrouding the gaps to be filled.
- Fill in the gaps using a small amount of filler and remove excess.
- Remove tape straight away (while filler is still wet), to give clean edges and surfaces.
- Leave to dry (follow instructions on filler bottle).
Step 8: Add Finish
Add the three layers of hardwax oil to the bag stand (do the stem and base seperately);
- Use a a clean rag to apply finish.
- Wipe off excess.
- Leave each coat to dry overnight.
- When dry, sand each coat lightly with 400 grit Wet & Dry Sandpaper roll.